Archibald Martin Bleyer (June 12, 1909 – March 20, 1989) was an American song arranger, bandleader, and record company executive.
Early life
Bleyer was born in the Corona section of the New York City borough of Queens. His father was a well-known trumpet player who had played with the Metropolitan Opera. The younger Bleyer began playing the piano when he was only seven years old. In 1927, he attended Columbia College, intending to become an electrical engineer, but as a sophomore switched to a music major. Without graduating, he left to become an arranger. In the early 1930s, Bleyer wrote a number of songs that were recorded, all 'hot' novelty numbers, including "Mouthful O'Jam", "Business In F" and "Business In Q".
In 1934, he began to lead his own band at Earl Carroll's club in Hollywood, California. Bleyer's orchestra recorded for Vocalion Records in 1934 and in 1935 moved to the ARC group of labels (Melotone, Perfect, Romeo, Oriole). One of the vocalists who worked with this orchestra was Johnny Mercer, who later became known as a songwriter and co-founder of Capitol Records.
In 1945, Bleyer began a collaboration on the CBS radio network as the orchestra conductor for the popular Gordon MacRae Show. Included among the instrumentalist who appeared with his orchestra was John Serry Sr., who emerged in later years as a leading orchestral accordionist.
Godfrey years
Bleyer became Arthur Godfrey's musical director in 1946, remaining in this role until 1953. Many close to Godfrey considered Bleyer's creativity and understanding of music to be pivotal to the success of Godfrey's radio and TV programs. And while Godfrey was known to be short-fused and controlling, he often deferred to Bleyer's judgment in the areas of presentation and production.
Bleyer founded Cadence Records in 1952. The label's first artist was Julius La Rosa, a member of the Godfrey cast, which also included vocalists Janette Davis, Frank Parker, Marion Marlowe, and the racially integrated vocal group The Mariners. At the time, La Rosa was the show's most popular cast member. Bleyer had several instrumental hit singles of his own, and signed other artists who had performed on Godfrey's programs, including The Chordettes, one of whose members, Janet Ertel, became his wife in 1954.
In the fall of 1953, Godfrey dismissed La Rosa on the air and later claimed the young singer "lacked humility", which diminished Godfrey's popularity. La Rosa had hired a personal manager, going against an unofficial Godfrey policy. That same day, Godfrey fired Bleyer, apparently offended when Bleyer recorded spoken recitations by Chicago radio personality Don McNeill, host of Don McNeill's Breakfast Club. This long-running Godfrey-like show was based in Chicago and broadcast nationally, but its popularity was mainly in the Midwest and tailored to that audience. Always insecure, Godfrey felt McNeill, whose show had once been a competitor, was still in competition though Godfrey was the dominant personality of his generation. Godfrey later claimed when he confronted Bleyer and threatened to fire him from at least one of the three shows Godfrey hosted, the conductor shrugged and told him to do what he had to do.Radio historian John Dunning has suggested, in On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, that Bleyer's relationship with Janet Ertel was also a factor in Godfrey's decision to fire him; Godfrey tried to enforce a no-dating policy among his cast and fired several who dated each other. Bleyer never made a public comment about his days with Godfrey. The public furor that surrounded LaRosa's firing and, to a lesser extent, Bleyer's, began the slow unraveling of Godfrey's seemingly unstoppable dominance of radio and TV, just as Bleyer's career was beginning to blossom. The loss of Bleyer's expertise in staging and production matters, where he served as an informal mentor to Godfrey despite their age differences, was detrimental to Godfrey's programs.